Ashleigh Wilson, Caroline and Capuchin Creche and Shelby Agnew at Detroit Metro Airport in Romulus.

Two students who take French with Madame Newton in Lapeer Schools,  Shelby Agnew from LHS and Asheigh Wilson from Zemmer, welcomed two sisters, Capucine and Charlotte Creach from Brittany, France to their homes for three weeks.  The French girls have come to Michigan to become fully immersed in the lives and the language of their host families and look forward to the many everyday activities that await them.  Some examples of activities with which they will be joining their host families include: dance competitions, going horse back riding, and attending a Tiger’s game. They also will be joining Madame Newton for a Detroit River Cruise to learn about the French history of Michigan.

Ashleigh Wilson greets Caroline after her 8 hour flight from Paris

This summer experience will help the Lapeer students to feel a sense of pride in sharing their traditions, create memories that will build lifelong friendships with someone from across the globe as well as enrich their entire family as they bring another culture into their homes along with their new French “sibling”.

What a great experience awaits them. This is a program that has been ongoing in Lapeer for the past 20 years.   Lapeer’s French teacher Madame Newton, who is responsible for finding the host families in Lapeer, said “many families find hosting a student to be an enriching opportunity that motivates them to utilize the French language skills they have spent many years studying, both in middle and high school, to travel to France and meet their new French family.  I encourage my students each year to take this opportunity and look forward to more students hosting in the future.”   

Christine Newton, a twenty-nine year veteran French teacher, who strongly believes in this authentic learning experience for her French students, helps find hosting families for Xperitas a company that provides English language immersion programs in the U.S. for students from around the world. For U.S. families, these programs offer an opportunity to bring the world to their doorstep and learn about another culture while sharing their own with an international student.

To Find out more about hosting contact Madame Newton at cnewton@lapeerschools.org.